Nuggets top Talladega for 3rd straight GCAC tourney title

JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- Tournament MVP SiMon Franklin scored 13 points Saturday to lead top-seeded Xavier University of Louisiana to a 58-50 women's basketball victory against Talladega in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference championship game.

Franklin, a junior guard, scored a 3-point play with 11:01 remaining to put the Gold Nuggets ahead to stay, 38-35.

Xavier (25-8), ranked 20th in NAIA Division I, won the tournament for the third consecutive season, the fourth time in five years and the 13th time overall. The Nuggets earned the GCAC's automatic berth in the national tournament, which will begin March 14 at Frankfort, Ky. The 32-team bracket and game times will be announced Wednesday.

Franklin averaged 12 points, three rebounds, 2.7 assists and shot 50 percent from the floor in three tournament games.

"Monee Franklin has had a great year -- her best year with us so far," XU coach Bo Browder said. "She redshirted last season, but she came back focused and locked-in on being a better player, teammate and student. She accomplished all three."

Jazmoné Kelly and Jasmine Grant scored 11 points apiece for Xavier. Grant and Brandi Young were XU's other representatives of the six-player all-tournament team. Young was all-tournament for the second straight year. Kelly led the Nuggets with eight rebounds and four steals.

Stephanie DeFrance scored 14 points for second-seeded Talladega (22-8), and Bianca Thomas had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Xavier led 21-7 after 13 minutes and 27-18 at halftime. The Nuggets never trailed and were tied twice, both in the first nine minutes of the second half.

"I wasn't worried when Talladega came back on us," Franklin said. "We knew Talladega's a good team and that it would be a hard game to win, but we knew we had enough to finish. We've been preparing for those types of situations all season."

Young's 12-foot jumper on the right baseline gave Xavier a 54-48 lead with 1:21 remaining. Grant scored the game's last three points on free throws in the final 30 seconds.

The Nuggets outshot the Lady Tornadoes 36.1 to 28.1 percent from the floor.

It's the first time a school won three consecutive GCAC women's tournaments since Xavier won five straight from 1994-98. Browder was an assistant during the final season of that earlier streak, and he is 6-3 in GCAC championship games as a head coach.

Xavier has won seven in a row and 18 of its past 21 games. The Nuggets qualified for nationals for the 16th time in 18 seasons and the 11th time in Browder's 13 seasons as head coach. Xavier is 44-2 against GCAC opponents since the start of the 2009-10 season.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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